The credit rating of T1 JSC (hereinafter, T1 or the Company) reflects the moderately high assessment of the operational profile and the strong financial profile. The Company is characterized by the moderately high business assessment and the medium corporate governance assessment. The rating is supported by the very low leverage and very high coverage, large business size, very high profitability, and strong liquidity. The assessment of cash flow exerts pressure on the Company’s rating.
T1 is a large Russian operational holding that is present in various segments of the IT market and focuses on system integration, software development, and a number of other areas.
KEY ASSESSMENT FACTORS
Moderately high assessment of the operational profile. ACRA considers T1 as one of the leaders in the fragmented market. The Agency notes a very stable demand for the Company’s products and services thanks to, among other things, the presence of an anchor customer. The revenue diversification score has been upgraded to high, while the Key Products’ Uniqueness and Complexity of Replication sub-factor is still assessed as medium.
The Agency views T1’s corporate governance as medium, while ACRA is of a high opinion about the Company’s consistent and well-formalized strategy. The score for the management structure has been elevated to high to reflect the results of the measures taken by the Company to improve and formalize the corporate governance system: the board of directors, including independent members, established at the end of 2024 has begun its work. Due to its extensive nature, the Group’s structure is assessed as below medium, and the financial transparency assessment has declined from high to medium since the Company stopped disclosing its consolidated financial statements. The geography of the Company’s operations is still assessed as high.
Large business size and very high profitability. In 2025, the Company’s financial result came under pressure due to the postponement of order fulfilment for key customers. In particular, some of the 2025 projects were postponed to 2026, and some of the 2026 projects were postponed to 2027, which pushed down the revenue and FFO before net interest and taxes by the end of 2025. ACRA does not expect this practice to become regular, so the one-time decrease in indicators did not have a significant impact on the weighted average metrics calculated by the Agency.
ACRA estimates that the weighted average FFO before net interest and taxes for 2023–2028 will amount to 3.8 bps of Russia’s GDP, which corresponds to a high score for the size per the Agency’s methodology.
ACRA expects the FFO before net interest and taxes margin to reach the level of 2024 no earlier than in 2027; the weighted average indicator for 2023–2028 will be 31%.
Very low leverage and very high debt coverage. The Company’s debt portfolio is represented by bank loans and rent obligations. Despite the weaker financial performance in 2025, T1 has maintained a very low leverage. The Agency believes that the Company has no need to increase long-term debt, but it allows for some increase in debt, including by the end of 2026 (T1 makes mainly short-term drawdowns to replenish working capital during the year).
According to ACRA’s expectations, the weighted average ratio of total debt to FFO before net interest for the period from 2023 to 2028 will be 0.3x. The Agency estimates that the weighted average ratio of FFO before net interest to interest over the same period may be 12.3x, which corresponds to the highest score per ACRA’s methodology.
Liquidity and cash flow. The Company’s liquidity is assessed by ACRA as strong due to the availability of committed credit lines and access to the debt capital market. The Agency notes the high volatility of the FCF margin: the Company receives and issues large advances, which has a significant impact on the amount of working capital. Over the past three years, the indicator has ranged from -5% to 32%. The Agency expects that by the end of 2026, the FCF margin will again enter the negative area, but in 2027 it will return to positive values, and the weighted average FCF margin for 2023–2028 will be -9%.
The ratio of capex to revenue remains at very high as the Company continues to actively develop its product portfolio. The Agency does not expect it to change significantly in the forecast period. The weighted average indicator for the period from 2023 to 2028, according to ACRA’s estimates, will be 34.8%.
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
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Fulfilment of the projects postponed from 2025 and 2026 in 2026 and 2027.
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No major M&A transactions.
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No large dividend payments in 2026–2028.
POTENTIAL OUTLOOK OR RATING CHANGE FACTORS
The Stable outlook assumes that the credit rating will highly likely stay unchanged within the 12 to 18-month horizon.
A positive rating action may be prompted by:
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Weighted average FCF margin sustainably higher than 3%;
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Weighted average FCF margin sustainably exceeding -3% and the weighted average ratio of capex to revenue declining below 15%;
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Weighted average FFO before net interest and taxes exceeding 5 bps of Russia’s GDP and the weighted average FCF margin exceeding -3%.
A negative rating action may be prompted by:
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Significant decrease in the sustainability of demand from the Company’s key customers and/or their loss;
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Weighted average FFO before net interest and taxes margin declining below 30%;
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Weighted average ratio of total debt to FFO before net interest exceeding 1.0x;
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Weighted average ratio of FFO before net interest to interest declining below 8.0x;
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Worse access to external sources of liquidity.
RATING COMPONENTS
Standalone creditworthiness assessment (SCA): a+.
ISSUE RATINGS
There are no outstanding issues.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURE
The credit rating has been assigned to T1 JSC based on the following methodologies: the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Non-Financial Corporations under the National Scale for the Russian Federation to calculate the SCA and determine the credit rating and the credit rating outlook of T1 JSC under the national scale for the Russian Federation; the Key Concepts Used by the Analytical Credit Rating Agency within the Scope of Its Rating Activities to ensure consistent and uniform application of ACRA’s methodologies, rating scales, models, and key rating assumptions.
The credit rating assigned to T1 JSC under the national scale for the Russian Federation was published by ACRA for the first time on May 19, 2025.
The most recent publication date of the credit rating is May 19, 2025.
The credit rating and its outlook are expected to be revised within one year.
The credit rating was assigned based on data provided by T1 JSC, information from publicly available sources, and ACRA’s own databases. The rating analysis was performed using the IFRS financial statements of T1 JSC as of December 31, 2025.
The credit rating is solicited and T1 JSC participated in its assignment.
In assigning the credit rating, ACRA used only information, the quality and reliability of which were, in ACRA’s opinion, appropriate and sufficient to apply the methodologies.
ACRA provided no additional services to T1 JSC during the year preceding the rating action.
No conflicts of interest were discovered in the course of credit rating assignment.
